Breaking Through

Very upbeat documentary on the ever growing numbers of openly LGBT people serving in American government. The list goes from the U.S. Senate, where Tammy Baldwin not long ago became the first openly gay non-incumbent elected, to multiple state and city politicians, not just from obvious places like New York or San Francisco, but from places one doesn't think of as so gay friendly, like Texas.

This could be a great film for teens – LGBT teens get to see that there's nothing they can't do, and straight teens could get a positive lesson on tolerance and openness.

All the men and women interviewed are smart, honest, sometimes very funny, and occasionally sad when revealing moments where they were rejected by friends or family, or threatened with violence. But all have gone on to flourish and excel, and now share their variations on the watchwords 'it gets better'.

One could carp – by trying to get to as many people as possible, the film can't go very deeply into anyone's life story. But that really isn't the aim here. It's more an affirmation than an expose, More a celebration of change than a rigorous examination of national prejudice.